


La Deuxieme Vie de ??????????

by MaximoBull



Series: Persona 5: Reminiscences [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Aftereffects of trauma, Cognitive Nonsense, Friends are there to help you, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, P5PC/Joker is named Toji Miwa, Yusuke may or may not be a furry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 11:39:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13903254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaximoBull/pseuds/MaximoBull
Summary: When Joker's MetaNav updates some time after Goro Akechi's sacrifice and the theft of Masayoshi Shido's heart, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts find themselves in an unprecedented situation- the Palaces they robbed and ransacked, and the Shadows that owned them, are back in the form of warped memories. What does this mean? What can Joker and the Thieves do? And most importantly, when their past literally comes back to haunt them, how should they respond?





	1. Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read, a small note: The character named Toji Miwa is meant to be the Persona 5 protagonist, also known as the Phantom Thief Joker. I chose to use this name for him because I feel that the names used for him in the manga and the anime and game spinoffs, Akira Kurusu and Ren Amamiya respectively, portray different characterizations of him than the one I’ll show in this story.  
> Please, enjoy, and if you liked this, I’d love to see comments!

“Joker, you’re going to burn your eyes out if you keep staring at that phone,” Morgana commented, hopping up onto Toji’s shoulder to look at the screen.

Toji sighed and nudged his glasses back into place, sparing his cat a glance. “I know, Morgana,” he said, “but I've never seen the MetaNav do a software update before.”

The picaresque app that Toji and friends used to access Palaces and go on heists was in the middle of said update, a small circle filling slowly in clockwise as the phone’s internal processes ticked away. It was kinda boring to watch, but Toji didn't want to take his eyes off it. If there was one thing he'd learned about cognitive psience and the items and events connected to it, it was that they were unpredictable. 

Eventually, Toji’s phone dinged cheerily as the MetaNav finished its update, and immediately Toji tapped the app icon. It opened up, revealing the MetaNav’s usual black and red aesthetic, but below the search bar was a new button.

“Reminiscences,” Toji muttered. “What do you think that means, Morgana?”

“Search me.” Morgana shrugged as much as his real-world body would allow. “Click it and see.”

Toji considered it. On one hand, it could be something risky and dangerous; nothing ever seemed to be quite what he expected when it came to matters of the Metaverse. On the other, when had that stopped him? If worst came to worst, Morgana was right there to support him or get help. Curiously, he clicked it, and a menu dropped down.

“Targets: Lustful Teacher’s Castle, Vain Painter’s Museum, Gluttonous Yakuza’s Bank, Wrathful Hacker’s Pyramid, Greedy Tycoon’s Spaceport, Envious Prosecutor’s Casino… Proud Politician’s Cruiser.” Toji’s heart sank at the names. The options he had to select from were the previous Palaces he and the other Phantom Thieves had raided.

This made no sense at all. Every time they had stolen a Treasure or changed a heart, its owner’s Palace had crumbled. He'd seen it with his own two eyes. 

So what was this?

Morgana didn't know either. “Maybe you should talk to those Velvet Room people you keep telling us about,” he suggested. Leaping off Akira’s shoulder, he landed on the boy’s bed and curled up at its foot. “They might know.”

At “Velvet Room,” Toji instinctively shuddered and shook his head. “No  _ thanks, _ ” he said. He didn't like going there even when he had to. Caroline, Justine, and their awful execution devices haunted his nightmares, and their master even moreso. “I doubt they know anyway.”

“If you say so.” Morgana closed his eyes, and a low rumble soon indicated that he was asleep and purring. Toji chuckled a little. Ah, cats.

Returning his thoughts to the MetaNav, Toji decided to take a risk. He tapped the selection for Kamoshida’s Palace, the place where it all began, and gasped softly as the world began to blur out and distort around him.

When Toji’s vision cleared, he found himself sitting on the hard stone floor just outside a massive castle, and the quiet, composed presence of Arsene at the back of his mind alerted him to the fact that he was no longer simply Toji but Joker.

But wait, something was wrong. The colors of Kamoshida Palace were washed out and bizarre. Even the distorted skyline of Tokyo above the Palace was a weird pale pink instead of rich, romantic magenta.

Morgana jolted as he transformed into his Metaverse form, blinking his huge blue eyes and looking around. “Wha- Toji- I mean, Joker? What’s going on?” he asked, words slurred from drowsiness. Looking up at the sight of the massive Palace above them, he gasped. “Is that  _ Kamoshida’s Palace?  _ Joker… What did you do?”

  
  


“I- I don’t know,” Joker said, staggering back slightly. He raised himself to his feet and looked towards the exit of the Metaverse. 

 

_ Oh boy,  _ he thought.  _ What have we gotten ourselves into this time? _

 

A loud roar from within the Palace jolted him into acute awareness of where he was, and more importantly, scared him into wanting to make his escape. “Mona, let’s get out of here,” he said, grabbing his phone out of his coat pocket.

 

“Leave!? But, but shouldn’t we investigate?” Mona said, slingshot and cutlass already at the ready.

 

Joker shook his head. “N-no, it’s too risky,” he said. “I’d feel safer if we got the others to check this out with us.”

 

“There is safety in numbers,” Mona conceded. “So, how do we get back?” He hopped onto Joker’s shoulder, per their norm, and stared as Joker fiddled with his phone. He initialized the “return to the real world” function of the MetaNav, and both Phantom Thieves winced and staggered as the warped version of Kamoshida Palace blurred out and fell away. With the vanishment of the Palace that shouldn’t have been went their Phantom Thief gear- the duo transformed back into regular old Toji Miwa and Morgana, back in the dim attic of Cafe Leblanc.

 

“That was  _ weird, _ ” Toji said shakily, sitting on his bed and drawing his knees up to his chest. “Morgana, let’s plan out a meeting with the other Thieves.”

 

“Ready when you are,” Morgana assured, nodding. 


	2. Quick Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small text conversation between the Phantom Thieves as Toji informs them of his and Morgana's discovery.

_ Toji: Guys, are you there?  _

_ Toji: Something weird just happened to Morgana and I. _

_ Yusuke: What’s the matter, Toji? _

_ Toji: I want to talk to you all about it, but the gist of it is that we somehow ended up in Kamoshida Palace. _

_ Ryuji: KAMOSHIDA PALACE? _

_ Ann: But that place was destroyed when we stole Kamoshida’s heart! _

_ Makoto: Something about that doesn’t add up.  _

_ Futaba: How did you get there in the first place? _

_ Toji: The MetaNav had a software update today.   _

_ Haru: A software update? That’s never happened before. _

_ Futaba: Yeah, I don’t think magic teleportation apps really do that kind of thing. :P _

_ Toji: Believe it or not, it did happen. _

_ Toji: It loaded a new feature called “Reminiscences”. I selected it, and… _

_ Toji: It opened options for all of the Palaces I’ve visited previously.  _

_ Toji: I picked Kamoshida’s, on a lark, and the attic of Leblanc turned into the Palace. Morgana and I even became Mona and Joker. _

_ Ann: Of course you would do that “on a lark”, Toji. _

_ Yusuke: More importantly, did you investigate further? _

_ Toji: No, we didn’t. We heard a roar from within, and figured that we’d be outmatched against whatever was in there without at least two other people, so I called for a retreat. _

_ Makoto: That’s wise of you. Going into the Metaverse without backup is tantamount to suicide. _

_ Ryuji: So, do you want us to help you out, or what? _

_ Haru: We are currently occupied with exploring Mementos, aren’t we? _

_ Toji: That’s true, Haru.  _

_ Toji: All the same, I suggest that we gather together and try using the Reminiscence feature once as a group before we keep going through Mementos. _

_ Futaba: I don’t see a problem with that. oAo _

_ Futaba: We’re nearing the end of the Path of Sheriruth, anyway. From what I’ve gathered through Necronomicon, we don’t have much farther to go before we reach whatever’s at the bottom. _

_ Toji: Anyone else want to give an opinion? _

_ Ryuji: I’m down for it. _

_ Ryuji: If the Palaces are back in some way, we can’t just stand down. What if Kaneshiro starts sucking people’s wallets dry, or Makoto’s sister goes nuts again? _

_ Makoto: I agree with Ryuji. We can’t risk the people whose hearts we’ve changed having a reversion. _

_ Ann: No objections here.  _

_ Yusuke: I likewise agree with your decision, Toji. Futaba’s Palace in particular being accessible as a Reminiscence worries me, due to its cognitive representation of her viewing her home as a personal tomb. _

_ Futaba: Aww, Inari does care. :D  _

_ Haru: Let’s do our best, everyone! _

_ Toji: Then it’s settled. We need a date, time, and place. It’s a weekend, so is everyone free tomorrow? _

_ Yusuke: I was planning to do some people-watching, but Metaverse-related issues are more important. _

_ Haru: I don’t have any pressing engagements. _

_ Ann: I’ll have to call in sick with my modeling agency, but I should be able to make it. _

_ Makoto: Unfortunately, there’s a student council meeting in the morning I can’t get out of, so it’ll have to be in the afternoon. If Leblanc is an acceptable meeting spot, I can be there by two PM. _

_ Futaba: I’ll ask Sojiro. _

_ Futaba: He says we’re A-OK to hog the shop! _

_ Ryuji: Alright, so we’re doing this! _

_ Toji: That’s right. Everyone, let’s break for now. Have a good one. _

_ Ann: See you, Toji! _

_ Futaba: L8r sk8rs! _

Toji turned off his phone and sighed. “Alright, Morgana, let’s get some sleep,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “It’s been a day.”

“Wow, you don’t even need me to remind you this time,” Morgana observed. “Two PM here at Leblanc, then? Don’t you have to get more medicine from Doctor Takemi tomorrow?”

“Yeah, that and a funyarinpa or two,” Toji replied vaguely. “Goodnight, Morgana. See you in the morning.”

“Wait, what’s a funya-”

Toji, ignoring his cognitive cat’s confusion and snickering at his private joke, laid down in bed and closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say here, but I plan to dive headlong into the meat of the story in the next chappie!


End file.
